The Grey Truth
by DoctorWhoFan22
Summary: Josephine Grey was the odd one in her class, working two jobs to pay rent, and hoping not to be found by her parents after running off years ago. When she is training to become a reaper, will either of her instructors help? T to be safe. Story contains some spanking, some course language, parental pairing(s), and touchy subjects. Don't like, don't read. I don't own Black Butler.
1. Chapter 1

The Grey Truth: Chapter One

It was the first day for the new recruits. They had all been anticipating their first day of training to become reapers. They all stood around the room, chatting and looking about nervously or excitedly. All but one, the odd one out of the group, this recruit was standing off to the side, silent, filling out papers that weren't related to these courses, but their current, though temporary job.

After a time, the door to the room opened, and two tall men walked in. The recruits stopped what they were doing, put things away, and stood before the men in perfect attention.

One man was dressed in a simple vest, white shirt, and black pants, like most reapers, though, he was also wearing black and red ankle boots, red framed glasses, and a red and black jacket slung off his shoulders, and had long, flowing, bright red hair. The other man was slightly taller, and wore a business suit, and simple glasses with thicker temples which had four decorative stripes cut into them.

"Alright, recruits, I am your instructor, Mister William T. Spears. I am here to train you, to whip you into shape," the suit-clad man stated. His voice was cold and serious, as were his eyes. "Now, due to today being the first day, I will be taking attendance," William said, though before he was able to begin reading off the names, the other man cut him off.

"Will, silly, you forgot to introduce me!" he shouted, more dramatically than needed.

William sighed a bit, and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose before he spoke. "That is my co-instructor, Grell Sutcliff. If in any case I am unable to be here, Mister Sutcliff will take my place."

Grell smiled, pleased that William had introduced him. He sat on the edge of the desk, allowing William to continue.

William looked at Grell out of the corner of his eye for a short moment, and then proceeded to look through a few papers, finding the student list. "Now, as I was saying, I will be taking attendance. From today on, I will have a list on my desk, it will be your responsibility to check your name off each day," he explained, and proceeded to call out the names on the student list. "Joseph Powers?"

"Here, sir," a blond-haired male stated clearly.

Will checked off the name on the list, "Drew Summers?"

A shorter, black-haired boy answered, "I'm here, sir."

Another check was made, "Wilfred Anderson?"

"Call me Will, sir," a slim, brown-haired student asked, once again, a male, and once again, another check was added.

"Gregory and Fredric Williams?"

Two identical, ginger-haired boys answered, "Right here!"

At that, two more checks were added, and then, William stopped, looking at the list. "Well, that can't be right, Josephine Grey?" he muttered to himself, under his breath, and then called the name, "Josephine Grey?"

Several of the recruits chattered and muttered to themselves, and then a voice was heard.

"Present, sir," the voice called out, a _female_ voice. The voice belonged to the odd one in the group. Josephine Grey was a tall, slim girl with dark brown hair tied tightly into a slightly messy bun, with some of the ends of her hair poking out of it. Her posture was perfect, and her eyes and voice were as stern and cold as William's.

It was at this time that Grell spoke up. "Well, it seems we've got an odd one in the group," he stated, standing and getting closer to the girl.

William also got closer to Josephine. "How on earth did a girl get into this school? I've never, in all my years, seen a girl step foot in here," he said, not expecting what was about to be stated back to him as a response.

"Mr. Spears, I've got as much of a right to be here as anyone else in this room. I would advise you to allow me to show what I've got instead of you simply jumping to conclusions and underestimating my abilities," Josephine said, getting a bit into Williams face, as he was taken aback by the recruit's rant.

"Well, we'll just have to see about that, then," he said, slightly glaring at the female recruit.

After a short silence, Will began to tell the class about the standard rules and expectations of both the school and his own class. By the time he finished, there were just five minutes left in the class time, and William gave this as a time for the recruits to talk with and meet one another. Josephine simply stayed off to the side, filling out a few papers; William noticed this and walked over. "Extra courses?" he asked her, causing Josephine to look up from her work.

"No, sir. It's for one of my supporting jobs," she stated, knowing that she likely surprised William.

"You've got a job? You, a girl? I must say I'm surprised, what sort of job is it?" he asked, pushing his glasses up with the tip of his pointer.

"I work for Junior Hospital Dispatch during the day," the girl replied, adjusting her glasses with the end of her pen.

"Aren't you a bit young for that?"

"I may be young in age, but my skill-set is equal to that of my co-workers."

William simply nodded, just as the bell rang to dismiss the classes. "I expect you all to arrive on time tomorrow morning," he called after the students as they left the room. After most of the recruits had left, William stopped the only one remaining, Josephine. "I've got my eye on you, Ms. Grey," he told her coldly.

"I'll be keeping that in mind, sir," Josephine replied. She checked her pocket-watch, and quickly left.

"Well, Will, what do you think of that?" Grell asked from his seat on the desk. William turned to face him.

"Get off the desk, Sutcliff. And as response to your question, I'm not sure. It seems that girl has more to her than she's letting on," he said, as an evident look of thought spread across his features.

"Oo, I think it's the perfect time to do some investigating!" Grell exclaimed.

William remained stoic, speaking calmly. "As do I, Sutcliff, as do I," at that, he and Grell began to try to form a plan.

Meanwhile, while Grell and William were making plans, Josephine was rushing into the Hospital Dispatch office, nearly running over her boss. "Josephine, what is going on? You're never running this late," he said to her, knowing that she was never late for work.

"It's nothing, sir, just got held up a bit at the academy is all," she told him, taking out the papers she had been filling out. "I took the liberty of completing these in my spare time last night," she said as she hurried off.

When Josephine reached her office, she slumped at the door, just as one of her co-workers was passing by. "Josephine, are you okay? You look kind of tired," he said to her, concerned.

"I'm fine, just trying to balance a busy schedule, you know how it is," Josephine replied, though she knew that her co-worker wouldn't understand. He simply nodded and walked away, leaving Josephine to go into her office and try to get to work.

Though, later that day, Josephine's boss came to check in on her, but when she didn't answer his knock, he let himself into her office, and saw Josephine, slumped in her chair at her desk, asleep. This was becoming more and more common with Josephine, and he just couldn't understand why. He was even thinking of giving her some time off to rest, there had to be something going on, he just couldn't tell what, and he wouldn't imagine the truth of the matter. Josephine's boss sighed, and gently shook the girl's shoulder. "Josephine, wake up," he softly urged, causing Josephine to stir and wake quickly. "You fell asleep again," he told her, and Josephine sighed. "You need to get some rest, Josephine, I think you should take a few days off."

"I need to make rent this month," Josephine replied.

"You'll be on paid leave," her boss told her.

Josephine sighed, knowing that her boss didn't lie about things like this. She had known that this day would come at some point. That she would be told to take some time off from work to relax. She had known that she would be put on paid leave if she fell asleep again at work, she just hadn't known when. "I'll consider it," she said finally, only earning a disapproving look from her boss.

"No, Josephine. You said you would consider it last month, and you didn't take the time. You are going to take the time off. Two weeks, got it?" he sternly told her, earning an aggravated sigh from her. Though, reluctantly, she nodded.

"Fine, I'll take the time off, but I'm not going to like it, you know that," she said. And indeed, her boss knew she would hate not coming into work, though he knew she needed the time off more than anything at the moment. Josephine gathered her things, and was about to grab the files she had been working on, when her bosses hand stopped her, she simply rolled her eyes and stood, straightening herself up a bit. "I'll see you in a couple weeks, then," she said, and left, going back to her small apartment in the rough part of the city.

As Josephine entered the building, she was jostled by the other tenants as she always was. The girl had grown used to it, and didn't pay the comments or the pokes and prods much mind. She simply walked up the stairs to her third floor apartment and unlocked the several locks guarding her door, and stumbled inside, exhausted.

"Well, seems I've got a couple of weeks to 'rest', though, not going to do much of that, got to get ready for work, and I've got to study…" Josephine said to herself, as she went over to the closet.

Josephine's closet and apartment were scarcely furnished or filled. The apartment had come with the furniture left behind by the previous occupant, and it smelled of the smoke of cigarettes. She had a few books, and a clock, and some fairly old pictures, small, simple things, though that was all. In her closet, Josephine simply had a couple of suits, which she had cheaply bought and tailored to her size, some copies of her recruit uniform, and three, identical, knee length dresses, white tights, a pair of black, strapped shoes, a white apron, and white ribbon.

She took one of the dresses from the hanger, as well as the apron, shoes, tights, and ribbon, and changed into them, tying her hair back with the white ribbon, leaving a strand framing the right side of her face. The slim girl slipped into the tights and the dress, and strapped on the shoes. Finally, she tied on the apron, the bow perfectly tied, resting on the small of her back.

"Well, off to work," she said to herself, and put on her only coat, which by now was well worn from several years of being worn in all kinds of weather. At this, she set out, keeping her coat wrapped fairly tightly around her. On her way out, she was once again prodded with questions and comments, some innocent, some as suggestive and/or seductive as they get. Josephine simply ignored most of them, though to a few, she gave some witty retort, one earning her a good slap to the right cheek. What had this mattered to her? It was an overly common occurrence, though, surprisingly, this time around, it bothered her, she just couldn't understand why. There was no time to worry about that now, as she headed to work, knowing in her heart that she would find out why this time, the injury she received all too often, a simple slap to the cheek, had bothered her so much as to nearly cry as she walked the familiar route to her other job, knowing she would once again be working into the late hours of the night.

As Josephine entered the diner near the center of town, the manager, whom was also the chef, came storming out of the kitchen, spatula in hand. Josephine remembered the last time she had been late, and the smarting sting of the result. She had tried not to come in late, though, as she looked at her pocket-watch, she realized that she was, in fact, about fifteen minutes late for work.

The chef was obviously not amused with his most-liked waitress being late. He intended to somehow put a stop to it; he simply needed to smack some sense into the girl. He didn't even know why she was so well liked. The other waiters were just fine, they were kind and polite, and seemingly never got frustrated with a problem customer. Then, it hit him, Josephine was a girl, and though females were rare, they were not non-existent, and this was why everyone liked her. Women were naturally understanding, and the customers felt that Josephine understood them more than any of the other waiters. This was probably why he kept her around.

"You're late again, Grey," the chef told Josephine as she took off her jacket and hung it up on the hook. "You are well aware of what I told you would happen if you were this late again you'd get it, now you know where to go," he said, and Josephine sighed, hanging her head a bit in shame as she walked out to the back room, which was far enough away from the main dining area that the customers wouldn't be able to hear what was going on. Josephine knew what was coming, and was mentally bracing herself for that familiar feeling of the wooden spoon, and the smarting sting of the chef's belt on her backside. "Now, over the creates," the chef told her, and Josephine hesitantly complied.

Josephine prepared herself as she felt the skirt of her dress get pulled up over her rear and tucked under the ties of her apron. After several moments, it came; the first strike was delivered with a sickening smack. The sting was painful, though bearable, even if she bit her lip to be able to get through the painful smacks. The strikes kept coming for what seemed like hours until they finally stopped. By now, Josephine's eyes were brimming with tears, and she was trying to keep herself together, though the punishment was not yet over. Josephine felt her tights and underwear getting pulled down to her knees, and the sound of the chef taking off his belt. The girl knew what was coming to her, and she bit her lip, knowing she was expected not to make a sound during this.

"Twenty-five strokes, Grey, that's what you're getting," the chef told her, as he struck her with his belt. The strokes kept coming, each stronger and more painful than the last, and Josephine knew it would be cut close to her limit, the punishments always were. Though, she knew she wasn't the only one to get this, several of the waiters also got the same treatment if they came in late for work, so she knew that they wouldn't judge her if she came out with her cheeks streaked with tears. Before too long, the final stroke of the belt hit her, and the chef finally spoke. "That's it, Grey, next time, it'll be thirty, remember that. I expect you out there in ten minutes, no more than that," he said, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Now alone, Josephine finally allowed the tears to freely fall. She remembered the first time this had happened, but tried not to remember too much of it. After about five minutes, Josephine straightened out her clothes, and did her best to pull herself together. She grabbed the small order pad and pen by the door, and walked out to start working. The hours went by, with the normal customers coming in for lunch or coffee or tea, and Josephine barely paid any mind to many of them. Josephine thought that nothing would really happen, that she would go through her shift until eleven thirty that night without anything notable arising, though, she found that later that day, this wouldn't turn out correct.

_**((A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I'm not posting much recently, but a few things came up over the holidays, including some major writer's block, so, yeah. I'm back now, and trying to pick up my stories! BTW, this is my first story for Black Butler, tell me how you like it so far!))**_


	2. Chapter 2

The Grey Truth: Chapter Two

Later that night, William and Grell were at the diner, still trying to come up with a good plan. This turned out to be harder than they thought. The plans they had come up with and scrapped were either too simple or overly complicated. Though, going to the diner had been their best 'plan' yet and they realized that when the waitress came over to their table.

"Hello, welcome to Death's Diner, I'm Josephine and I'll be your waitress this evening. Can I interest you in some drinks to start out?" Josephine greeted, in a kinder voice than earlier that day when William and Grell first encountered her.

The pair looked up, surprised at what they were hearing and seeing. William thought that Josephine's only job had been with the Junior Hospital Dispatch Office. Grell hadn't even thought she had a job.

"We'll just have some water," William told Josephine, who nodded, leaving to fetch two glasses of water.

Grell soon began to speak, his voice oddly hushed. "Wonder why the odd one's here, Will. A girl like her should be getting aid by her parents if she's on her own, or still be living with them," the read-headed reaper said to William, whom nodded.

Moments later, Josephine returned with the water, and set a glass down in front of each of the men. "Are you two ready to order, or would you like some more time to decide?" she asked them, taking out a small notepad.

"Yes, I'll have the tomato soup, a bit of cheese on that, with some crackers on the side," Grell said, as he spoke, Josephine quickly took down his order.

"I think I'll have the Caesar Salad," Will said, and Josephine took down the order.

"Those will be right out," Josephine said, and walked away from the table, leaving William and Grell alone.

Will and Grell stayed silent for a moment in case Josephine came back, though, when she didn't, they began to speak once more, again, in hushed voices.

"I know what you mean, Sutcliff. A girl her age should still be with her parents, though, I don't think that's her case. Did you see her arms? Scars are running up and down both her arms, I bet her torso and legs are the same way if what I'm thinking is true," William said, earning a bit of a concerned look from the red reaper across the table.

"It doesn't look it, Will. You'd be able to see the scars through the tights, she hasn't got any scars on her legs. I think it could be, you know, self harm," Grell suggested, and they both knew that is was a grim possibility, though one that could be true. They both knew what it was like to either cut, or know someone who did, they had both been in each situation. It was scary, both to be the victim and the witness, if Josephine was hurting herself, this time, they would need to intervene.

After some time, Josephine returned and placed the dishes in front of the reapers. "Will you be needing anything else at the moment?" she asked, holding her hands behind her back.

"We're fine, thank you," William said, and Josephine left. The two reapers ate in silence, subtly, yet closely watching the waitress.

Josephine was straightening out the empty tables, and nodded to the chef as he left, telling her to lock up when the two reapers were finished. The girl had caught the key as it was tossed to her, and tucked it into the pocket of her apron.

The two eating reapers watched as Josephine fixed the settings at the tables, noticing that she seemed tired and a bit distraught. Neither of them understood why, they could only guess that she had worked long hours through the day. Little did they knew what happened when Josephine went home.

After straightening out the tables, she set her elbows on the counter and slumped down tiredly.

"Are you alright?" Grell asked, breaking the long silence.

Josephine looked over to the red haired reaper, slightly confused. Why would it matter to him if she was alright? It was just then when she recognized the men, Mr. Sutcliff and Mr. Spears. Though still, they had antagonized her in class earlier that day, why should she trust them now? For all she knew, they acted properly at the academy, and could be just like the men from the apartment building, rude and seductive.

"I'm fine," she said, though she knew that her lack of eye contact was a dead giveaway that she was lying to them. She knew that lying was wrong in general, and lying to a superior was even worse.

William was surprised, he had never been lied to by a minor, even in class if a written report wasn't turned in. He wouldn't have even thought that one of his students would attempt to lie to him, and expect to get away with it. Grell was equally surprised, though, for a slightly different reason. He hadn't expected one who was so obviously tired to really try to lie about their state. Both reapers knew that the girl before them needed help, though they were aware that she wouldn't admit it.

"Are you sure?" William asked, obviously not buying the act. His eyes were fixed coldly on Josephine, whom met William's stare with her own cold glare.

"Yes. I've simply been working long hours sense earlier today," Josephine replied, not noticing that her story wasn't quite adding up.

William noticed the inconsistency in Josephine's story, and knew this was how he would catch her in the act. "I thought you worked with the Junior Hospital Dispatch Office," he said, smirking a bit to himself.

Josephine immediately found the flaw in her story, yet struggled to recover from it. "I… Um… Well, I do work for them, though remember, I only said I worked with them during the day," she replied, nervously stuttering. She couldn't pull off this act forever, that much she knew.

"Seems your story isn't quite adding up, Ms. Grey," William told her, and Grell nodded in agreement.

Josephine knew that Will was right, her story wasn't adding up at all. Time seemed to stand still for a moment until William took out his wallet and paid for the meals. He and Grell thanked Josephine, who nodded in response as she cleared the table, not noticing William subtly slip a note into the pocket of her coat on their way out. She washed the dishes, and cleared the counter-tops of the kitchen, and after some time, she finally got ready to head home. She was tired as usual, though even more so because of her run-in with her instructors.

As she entered the building, the girl was once more bombarded with questions and comments. Many of them were things she would often ignore, letting them fade into the background. Though, that wasn't the case now, for some odd reason, the comments were getting to her, and it made no sense. As she climbed the stairs up to the third floor, Josephine was trying to keep herself together. She quickly undid the locks on the door. As she stumbled into the small apartment, Josephine hung up her coat, still not noticing the note tucked into the pocket. The exhausted girl took off her uniform, and changed into her night gown.

Josephine sat down at the desk in the corner of the flat's main room, wincing at the feeling of the pressure on her bruised bottom, and began to type on the type-writer that the previous occupant had left behind. After some time, Josephine found that she was falling asleep. This wouldn't seem troubling to most, but it was a terrifying thought to Josephine. After she had left home, Josephine had the thought, in the back of her mind, that her parents may try to find her in the city. The girl, who once had wonderfully long, wavy, flowing hair, now had it cut to her shoulders, and constantly kept it tied back. Her once slumped, scared posture, now perfectly straight, confident, and defiant. A once silent voice was now being heard. And a once frail body and mind were now strong. Simply put, Josephine had changed everything about herself for one simple reason, not to be discovered.


	3. Chapter 3

The Grey Truth: Chapter Three

While Josephine was trying to keep herself awake, William and Grell were back at Will's apartment.

"Wonder why the odd one lied to our faces, Will. You'd think one her age would know she wouldn't be able to get away with it," Grell said, and Will nodded in agreement.

"I haven't got the faintest idea how she could even think she could get away with it," Will returned.

"I saw you put something in her pocket, what was it?" Grell asked, childishly curious.

"That will be between myself and Ms. Grey, Sutcliff," William replied. He obviously wasn't going to be giving Grell any information on the subject.

"She might not even read it, you know," Grell told him, though William said nothing in reply. Of course he knew that Josephine may not read his note, but it was worth a shot.

There was something odd about that girl, but William just couldn't put his finger on it. There was obviously something on her mind, and he intended to find out what it was. Even if it didn't look it, Will intended to help the girl any way he could. Even though it wasn't clearly obvious to everyone, there was one shinigami that could always tell what William T. Spears was thinking, and that one shinigami was Grell Sutcliff.

"You'll find a way to figure her out, Will, I just know it," Grell told him, and he left, without a response from his partner.

William sighed a bit to himself, and prepared for bed, putting on his black pajama bottoms and matching collared shirt. As he finished neatly putting some paperwork into a file folder, he was still thinking of Josephine. After a short time, William was lying in bed, reading himself to sleep as always, and after an hour went by, he marked the page, set the book and his glasses aside, and went to sleep.

On the rougher side of town, Josephine was also lying in bed, rereading one of her favorite books. After quite a while, towards the end of the book, Josephine finally gave into her exhaustion, and allowed herself to fall asleep, knowing that it was just a few hours until she would need to get up and go to the academy. Sure enough, a few hours later, Josephine was awoken by the sun coming in through the window, and shining right onto her eyes. The girl sat up, and stretched, still tired, though not as much as she had been hours ago. She put on her glasses, and proceeded to go about her morning routine of getting dressed and brushing her hair and teeth. Josephine was soon out the door, wrapping her coat around her as she walked to the academy.

As Josephine was on her way to the school, William and Grell were preparing for the day's lesson. Well, William was, Grell, on the other hand, was watching out the window for something. Normally this wouldn't have concerned the dark-haired shinigami, but this time was different. Grell wasn't just playfully looking out the window, or daydreaming. He was seriously looking down to the campus walkways below, watching for something, or, could it be someone?

"Sutcliff, what on earth are you watching out that window for?" William asked as he was writing something on the black board.

Grell didn't turn to look at his partner as he answered, "I'm waiting for that odd one, young Ms. Grey. I heard that she always came in early from her former teachers, so it could be the perfect time for us to speak with her," he told Will, still looking out the window.

"You spoke with her past teachers?" William asked, barely believing what he was hearing from the flamboyant shinigami, who was normally anything but serious about things.

The red-haired reaper nodded, saying nothing in reply. After some time of silence, Grell finally spoke. "There she is, coming up the walkway right now!" he shouted, becoming his usual, excited self once more.

"Well, with her coming in early like this, it is going to be a good time to talk with the young lady, you finally did something right, Sutcliff," Will said, earning a wide, sharp smile from Grell.

A few moments later, the girl, dressed in black, with a dark green hair tie, walked into the classroom. Josephine checked her name on the list on the desk at the front of the room, and went over to the hooks on the wall, and hung up her coat. Just then, she noticed the note that had been put into her pocket the night before. Josephine took the note from the pocket, opened the folded paper, and read the note. After making sure she hadn't read it wrong, she turned to her instructors, a very serious look on her face.

"Well?" William stated, simply, and waited for a response.

The girl barely shifted her gaze as she answered William's question. "You really think I would simply give in and tell you I was wrong? I don't show weakness to anyone, Mr. Spears, that's one thing you should learn about me right now. You won't see me show any form of weakness in front of the two of you, that's something you can bet on," she told them, taking the two older shinigami aback from the sternness in her tone.

"We were just wondering if there was anything we could do to help, Ms. Grey. I would urge you to keep that in mind," Will said, just as the other students were entering the room and signing in. The three of them didn't bring up the discussion to anyone that day, the lessons just went on as planned, as if nothing had ever happened.

After classes were finished, Josephine was walking out the classroom door when she was stopped by William. "A word, Ms. Grey," he said, fairly coldly, drawing Josephine back into the room. "Now, Mr. Sutcliff and I have wanted to ask you just what is going on," he told her, sitting behind his desk, while Grell sat on top of it. "Sutcliff, how many times do I need to tell you not to sit on my desk?"

Grell simply shrugged, not moving from his place on his partner's desk. "You had better come clean, girl. You've lied to us once, don't try to do it again," he told her, and the girl pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She said nothing for several moments.

"Sirs, there is nothing wrong, simply stress and being over worked by two jobs," she said, barely backing down from an opportunity to try to seem like everything was going fairly well for her.

"That façade isn't going to work on us, Ms. Grey. We can tell that there's something going on that you're not telling us," Grell said, turning from his position to face Josephine.

William nodded in agreement. "He's right, Ms. Grey. We won't fall for that act again," he told Josephine.

The girl sighed, knowing that if she stayed too much longer, that she could very well earn herself either thirty lashes of the belt, or even be fired from her job at the diner. "Professors, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm going to be late to work at the diner".

"We have already taken care of that," Grell told her.

Josephine knew there was no getting out of it now. She was well aware enough that she could figure out that William and Grell had informed the manager at the diner that she wouldn't be in that afternoon. There was no way she would be able to get out of the discussion now.

"Now, why don't we head to the dispatch department where we can have a bit of, privacy?" William said, and Josephine nodded in agreement, though she knew that she didn't have a real choice. The two reapers and the recruit left, going to the dispatch department, and into William's office. "Sutcliff, I want you to go to your office. I'd like to speak to Ms. Grey in private," he said, and Grell, seemingly a bit annoyed, nodded and left, going to his own office.

Josephine could tell that this was going to be a long day, especially when William ushered her to sit down in a chair in front of the desk, and locked the door behind them. '_This couldn't get any better…'_ she thought, preparing for whatever was about to come.

_**((AN: I know it's late, sorry about that! ^^' I had some serious writer's block for a while, and then we had our state standards test here in MA, so, yeah… Next chapter should be up soon! I hope…))**_


	4. Chapter 4

The Grey Truth: Chapter Four

William sat behind his desk in front of Josephine, his eyes fixed on her. For a time, neither one said anything, causing Josephine to shift uncomfortably in her chair. After several tense, silent moments, the man finally spoke, in his cold, emotionless tone.

"Now, Ms. Grey, I have your student file here, I was wondering if I could confirm a few things," he stated, and Josephine nodded a bit, not seeming the least bit nervous. "Your birth date is 15 October, correct?"

"Yes sir, making me 16 years of age, the minimum age the academy accepts," Josephine replied.

William nodded a bit, and continued his questions. "What about your parents, I don't seem to have met them during the meetings concerning your entry to the academy,"

"My parents are often out on business and are rarely ever home. That may be why you haven't met them," Josephine replied, keeping her voice cold and serious.

"That brings me to my next question. Why is it that you would like to be a Shinigami in the first place? I would think a girl would go into something more low-key," William questioned.

"I had thought the same thing before making the decision, though something more low-key would involve leaving the city," Josephine answered.

"Now, would you mind telling me if you enjoy your jobs?"

"Which one?"

"Both if you wouldn't mind."

"Why do you want to know about them in the first place?"

William smirked a bit to himself; Josephine was trying to avoid the question. "I am simply wondering if you enjoy what you do."

"I do enjoy working at Hospital Dispatch, as well as the diner. Both have their own, appeal," Josephine stated, though her lying was starting to show itself, she was pausing between certain words, and William took notice, though said nothing of it.

"How much sleep do you get per night, Ms. Grey?"

Josephine answered abruptly, "Eight hours approximately."

"Eight? I would have thought you got less than that from the dark marks under your eyes."

"As I have told you in the past, I work long hours, that may be what causes them."

'_She seems to be losing it, starting to mix up the times of when she has or has not told me something…_' William thought. "You never told me the hours you work," he stated.

Josephine took off a glove and casually wiped a hand over her forehead, she was beginning to sweat. The girl tried not to show alarm at this and simply put her glove back on.

William took notice of the slight gloss to the girl's face. "You seem to be perspiring a bit, would you like a glass of water, Ms. Grey?"

"No, thank you, but I'm fine."

"Apparently not fine enough. I've seen them, the scars on your arms."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Mr. Spears. I am perfectly fine."

"Are you sure you're alright, would you like me to open the window a crack?" William asked, almost ignoring the recruit's statement and getting up to open the window.

"I said I was fine," Josephine said quickly.

Will nodded and sat back down in his seat. "Are you aware of when your parents will be returning from out of town?"

"My parents have both passed away, I mentioned that earlier."

"You told me that they were often out of town on business, I would have thought you'd remember that."

"Well, um, oh, yes, I did tell you that, didn't I? No, I don't know when they will return," Josephine replied, it was obvious she was becoming uncomfortable. She was starting to allow her eyes to stray around the room, she was also starting to shift nervously in her seat.

"Are you sure that you are alright?"

At this, Josephine got up from her seat. "I assure you, Mr. Spears, I am fine," she said, and started towards the door.

Quickly, Will got up from his seat behind the desk and firmly grasped Josephine's shoulder, stopping the girl and turning her to face him. His kept a strong hold on the recruit as she tried to get away from the superior Shinigami. His eyes look coldly upon the younger reaper.

"Ms. Grey, I would like to inform you that it is very important for you to tell us the truth. Mr. Sutcliff and I simply intend to help you, not to harm you," he said, and shortly after, the girl relaxed her shoulders a bit, and turned her head away.

"How do I know I can trust you? Everyone else in my life has gone back on their word, how can I be sure that the two of you won't do the same thing?" she replied, pulling away from William as he slowly took his hand away.

William had no idea what to say to this. He hadn't put any thought into this sort of thing happening. The man hadn't expected that Josephine, seemingly such a strong-set, determined girl, wasn't all what she seemed to be on the outside, at least, that's what he was thinking at this point. He had to find out what had happened, what Josephine had been like before, and what had happened to change her. After a moment, he began to speak again.

"You can trust us, I assure you. Mr. Sutcliff would tell you the same thing I already have. He and I can and will certainly help you, if you will let us, that is. We cannot do anything for you if you don't tell us of anything that has happened," the dark-clothed shinigami told the recruit, who simply nodded a bit.

Josephine was taken aback by William's sudden kindness, though she refused to let herself show it. The only thing she couldn't hide was the bruise from the previous evening that was now starting to show entirely across her right cheek. She could feel hot tears pricking in the corners of her eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

Several moments passed, and neither of the two said anything, and they jumped as there was a knock at the office door. William stepped away to answer it, and saw Grell standing outside the office.

"I think you had better wrap up with her, Will, it's almost nine o'clock, everyone's gone home at this point. It's you, me, and the girl," Grell said, and finally looked over his partner's shoulder, seeing the recruit in the office, who was now looking out the window at the dark streets below.

"Sutcliff, we will be finished when we are finished. Which, I do believe is now at this point, we really should be heading home," Will said, and Grell nodded in agreement. "I am going to see that the lights are all turned off, why don't you talk with her a bit?" he added, in a slightly hushed voice, and left the room.

The red shinigami walked into the room and stood to the side, just behind the girl at the window. "The night is beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, almost as if he was simply talking to himself, though Josephine could tell that the question was directed to her.

"It is, if you haven't got to worry about heading all the way across the city in the dark, or whether or not your worst nightmare could be waiting on any corner for you to walk by," she said, not realizing that she concerned the elder shinigami with her statement.

"What do you mean by that?" Grell questioned, genuine curiosity showed in his voice as he spoke.

"I live on the other end of the city, Mr. Sutcliff. And, well, I've been afraid for years that my past would catch up to me," Josephine told him, not bothering to turn and face the man behind her.

"You could go home with one of us for the night, or Will or I could walk you home, see to it that you're safe," Grell suggested, and the girl looked over her shoulder at him.

"As I said to Mr. Spears, how do I know I can trust you?"

"Well, we are your instructors. It's our job not just to get you trained for the job of being a reaper, but to make sure that you're safe along the way. The two of us are both concerned, especially after seeing those scars of yours. We simply want to help you."

It was now that what William has said started to click. The two did simply want to help her, they just wanted to keep her safe. "This is a first for me," the girl said, her voice was quiet, and a fairly obvious, tired tone came through as she spoke.

"What is a first?"

"Someone actually caring about what happens to me."

Grell softly sighed to himself, and pat the girl's back gently, then put his hands into his pockets. They stood in silence until Will turned up at the door again. "Everything is in order, it seems that we can head off for the night."

As the dark reaper walked out, Grell fell into step next to him, while Josephine followed them. As they walked down the steps, Grell began to speak with William.

"She's on the other side of town, Will. I've been there, it's rough, and she's just a kid, and a beautiful young woman, an easy target for any of those quacks out there," Grell said to Will, who nodded a bit.

"I'll take her with me, I live closest to this building, it'll be safer that way," William replied.

Grell nodded in strong agreement. It would be safest for the young recruit to go with his partner, who just happened to live three blocks down from the dispatch office, while Grell lived five blocks away, almost at the boarder of the good and bad parts of town.

As the three reached the door to the building, Grell parted ways with the two dark-clad reapers and began his trek home. Josephine was obviously trying to figure what she would do, this was when William spoke.

"Mr. Sutcliff and I decided that it would be safest if you came home with me for tonight," he said.

The recruit said nothing, she simply nodded and followed William as he began walking down the street. For a few minutes, they walked in silence, before Will spoke up.

"Well, Ms. Grey, I may be sounding a bit like a parent, but I expect you in bed when we get to my home, I'm sure that you've had a very long day, and I know that you weren't telling me the truth of how much you actually sleep each night."

"Sir, though it may be your expectation, but you cannot hold firm to it. The truth is, Mr. Spears, that I tend not to get much sleep, if any each night."

"And why is that?"

"Simply put, a fear of the past."

William nodded simply, and they walked to his home in silence. He unlocked the front door and walked in, followed by the young woman. He led her down the hall and to a spare bedroom. The room was furnished simply, with black furniture, a nightstand, desk, lamp, and bed with a black headboard and black comforter, along with white pillows.

"They may not fit, though there are some pajamas in the closet, as well as some as my old uniforms from my time in the academy, the uniform hasn't changed all that much, so it should be fine, and, admittedly, I was around your size when I attended," William explained, and Josephine simply nodded curtly and thanked him. "If you need anything at all, I will be down the hall in the living room," he told the girl, and he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Josephine sighed to herself, and went over to the closet, finding a set of black pajamas. She put them on, and spoke softly to herself as she looked out the window at the dark sky that blanketed the city.

"Maybe they are different… Mr. Spears and Sutcliff, they really do seem to care, just like they said, but, how would I know? I've never experienced anything along the lines of anyone caring… I suppose, in time, I'll see…" she told herself, and she went off to bed. Though, the peaceful night was about to end. Several quiet hours passed, then, the silence was broken by a young woman's yell, and William rushed to the guest bedroom, where Josephine was sitting, bold upright in bed, her head hung low, and breathing heavily. Something had happened, but what?

_**((A/N: Hey! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and yes, I know, slight cliff hanger there at the end. Also, a shout-out/thanks to Sabri Quet for helping me with this chapter! I wouldn't have gotten it up at this point without the help!))**_


	5. Chapter 5

The Grey Truth: Chapter Five

William saw the dark outline of his young guest sitting on the bed. He listened closely, and he could have sworn that he heard the girl's usually steady breathing was now quick and shaky. He slowly entered the room and turned the lamp on. To the man's surprise, he saw that there were damp streaks running down the girl's cheeks, and he could tell right away that she was crying.

"Are you alright, Ms. Grey?" he asked, kneeling at the side of the bed.

The girl said nothing in response. She simply tried to calm herself, though she knew it wasn't worth it, she knew for sure that William had seen her tears.

William frowned to himself. He sat on the edge of the bed and carefully shifted a bit of hair out of the girl's face, just as another tear fell from her eye. "Did something happen, Ms. Grey? You are well aware that you can safely confide anything to me," he said, causing the girl to nod, ever so slightly. Will took this as an indication that something had happened.

After a moment of silence, Josephine began to speak in a hushed, shaky voice. "It was simply a nightmare, Mr. Spears…" she told him.

"It seems to me that this was more than a simple nightmare," just then, it clicked for him. '_A fear of the past_' that was what the girl had told him. Now he understood. Something had happened while Josephine was a child, something she couldn't manage to forget.

"I feel it is of my concern. At this time, you are under my roof, and therefore, at least for tonight, you are of my concern," William told her.

Josephine sighed, knowing that the elder shinigami wouldn't take her fabricated story. He knew the lengths she went to, to make it seem like she led a normal life.

"While I was growing up, my parents fought nearly every time they passed one another. The two didn't even know I was there most of the time. I had to grow up quickly to really have a chance to live. I ran off one night while my parents were fighting in another room and I heard the fight start to turn violent. I got into the city almost two days later, arranged for a flat and for a couple of jobs to sustain myself. I was worried that I'd be recognized, so, I did whatever I could to change myself in the eyes of anyone who came across me. I came up with the original story you had known from my academy file. Though, I'm guessing that you've already noticed that I still have had some, trouble, coping with the past…" Josephine told him.

_'So she is hurting herself… that would explain the scars on her arms…'_ William thought. He looked over and saw that, once again, Josephine was crying, with her head turned away from him. Without thinking much of it, the man gently pulled the girl over to him, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and began running his thumb over her shoulder.

Josephine tried not to show her weakness, she tried not to show that she was comfortable in her instructor's arms, but after several minutes, it was too much. The recruit allowed her head to softly fall onto William's shoulder, as sleep took over once more.

William looked coolly down upon the sleeping girl in silence for some time, and then he began to whisper to himself, trying to figure out what he would do next.

"This certainly is something to look into… the girl is obviously going through more than what many see in someone's Cinematic Record… and that surly is saying something. It's tougher than with Sutcliff's case… it seems we'll be working around everything to get to the bottom of… Grey… the Grey's… well, it looks like I'll be doing a different kind of overtime, then. I simply hope that this plan will be simple enough to work out… as long as she finds no fault in the story…"

_**((A/N: Sorry this one was so short you guys! The next chapter'll be longer, I promise! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the fluff in this chapter, as well as a bit of a devious Will coming in, I just couldn't resist!))**_


	6. Chapter 6

The Grey Truth: Chapter Six

_**((A/N: Just a warning you guys, this chapter has stronger language and does involve Josephine's self-harming problem, as witnessed by Grell. If you wish to skip this chapter, there will be a recap at the top of the next chapter, though I really suggest that you read the full chapter, sense this chapter is **__**extremely**__** important to the story, and even with a recap, things to get confusing at the next chapters progress.))**_

The next morning, after walking to the academy through a heavy rain that seemed like it wouldn't let up through the course of the day, William and Josephine met up with Grell and entered the building. Grell and Will, as always, fell into step with one another, as they had become accustomed to doing, though once they arrived at the classroom, Grell continued down the hall, going into the bathroom, while William and Josephine walked into the vacant room.

William was the first to speak. "Ms. Grey, if you wouldn't mind, I have arranged for you to meet a couple of people I think you may or may not know," he said, causing Josephine to look up from cleaning the blade of her recruit scythe.

"I do mind, Mr. Spears, unless you've already contacted the diner to inform them that I won't be in again. I may as well tell them that I quit, and I can't afford to do that," Josephine replied as she placed the scythe into its sheathe and clipped it onto her belt.

"If you would like, I could take you down after classes and explain your absence."

"If he takes me into the back room, I blame you."

"What happens in the back room?"

"I'd rather not speak of it…"

William knew better at the moment than to push the young recruit any further, so he simply let the conversation end. The two spoke on and off about several different topics, always keeping away from the topic of last night. At the usual time that Josephine would have shown up, about half an hour later, two identical boys walked into the room.

They walked over to the desk at the front of the room and one was about to check his name when the other shoved him aside.

"I was just checking my name!" the first shouted.

"Look where you're checking, you're not Fred, I am!" the other replied, taking the pen and checking the name Fredric Williams off the sheet. The other twin took it back and checked Gregory Williams.

William turned to the twins. "You two seem to be in quite early this morning," he stated.

"Yeah, because _someone_ thought it would be funny to set my alarm back an hour!" the twins said in unison as the crossed their arms and looked at one another in annoyance.

William rolled his eyes and pushed his glasses up his nose, then turned back to the blackboard and continued writing. Fredric nudged his brother and nodded towards the window where Josephine was standing, looking down at the campus walkways below. The twins walked over and stood to either side of Josephine, Fredric to her left, Gregory to her right, and placed their closest elbows on her shoulders.

Josephine looked to her sides, and at seeing the twins, rolled her eyes. The twins often times annoyed her, what with their immature jokes, pranks, and off-and-on bickering, mostly about who was Fred and who was Greg.

"Hey, Josephine," the two half-whispered into the girl's ears at the same time.

"What is that you two want?" Josephine asked, irritation showing in her tone.

"Why don't you ever talk to anyone else in the class, you aren't some kind of creepy loner, are you?" Fred teased.

Josephine said nothing and ducked down and back, causing the twins to stumble and fall into one another. The girl made her way to the other side of the room to the door, and slipped out, though she wasn't fully unnoticed. She made her way to what seemed like an abandoned classroom. The desk at the front was old and seemed like it would collapse if weight was put on it, and the shelves were covered with a thick layer of dust. The girl made her way over to the far corner of the room and got to her knees. Facing away from the closed door, Josephine didn't see her red-haired instructor looking in through the dust-covered window.

_'What on earth is she doing in here?'_ Grell wondered, unsure of what to do. He simply stayed where he was and watched the girl, who was at such an angle that he was able to see her right wrist as she rolled up her sleeve, bringing into view evidence of what he had believed to be true. He saw a painful pattern of scars covering the girl's wrist, and as the sleeve came up further, he saw the pattern continue, until it stopped near the crook of her elbow. Upon closer inspection through the dirty window, Grell saw that there were also cuts that were only days old, still pink and scabbed over.

The red-clad shinigami watched as the recruit reached into the bag attached to the belt she wore like all recruits and pulled out what looked to be a blade of some sort. He gasped softly as he realized what he what watching. The man slipped into the room silently and closed the door noiselessly. He hid behind one of the old pieces of furniture in the room and continued to watch the girl, who began to whisper to herself.

"Not too deep, I don't feel like repeating the last time, that had been a bit too close… just two cuts, two, shallow, cuts. Just enough to hurt, just enough to draw blood, nothing more…" she told herself, greatly concerning the older shinigami.

'_She's just a kid… even I didn't get that far up when I was at my lowest point… how long has she been at it?'_ Grell thought. He had been worried sense that night at the diner. Now, his fears had been confirmed, she had cut too deep before, but when and how badly he didn't yet know, and the red-haired man knew he'd have to look into it.

"Damn it… bit deep, idiot…" Josephine hissed to herself, once again, she had accidently cut too deep into her wrist. Her statement earned an audible gasp from the elder reaper. She turned around to see the red-haired shinigami watching, worry filling his eyes. "I didn't think anyone would follow me here… I-," the dark-haired recruit began, though she was silenced by her instructor's finger going to her lips, signaling for her to stop talking.

"I was the same way almost four months ago, I understand how it feels," the red-head told her, and rolled up his own sleeves, showing that he had scars running from his wrists to nearly half-way to his elbow. Most of the scars were faint at this point, but some from closer to when he had stopped, as well as the deeper cuts, were still fairly prominent.

Josephine stared down at the scars, nearly forgetting about the blood still dripping from the cuts in her own arm. That was until Grell carefully pulled the mangled limb towards him, pulled out some bandage wrap, and began to tend to the wound. The girl hissed in pain as the bandages were wrapped tightly around the fresh cuts. Almost as soon as the bandages touched the skin, they were stained red by the recruit's blood.

"These are pretty bad… maybe we should take you to the nurse and have her check them," Grell suggested.

Josephine looked at the man with a pleading expression. "No, I can't let anyone find out… anything I tell her about it will go onto my medical record, and could be accessed by any of my co-workers…" she said, her voice a near-whisper.

Grell simply nodded and finished bandaging the wounds, it was fairly obvious that he had done the same thing to himself several times in the past. Once finished, he carefully rolled Josephine's sleeve back into place and helped her to her feet. The two said nothing to one another, what they wanted to say could be seen in their eyes. Silently, the two exited the room and went back to join William and the twins, arriving shortly after Drew Summers and Wilfred Anderson entered with one another, obviously having shared an umbrella, as neither one was wet from the heavy rain, though there was only one with them.

"It is nearly time for class to begin, and we are still missing one student, do any of you know where Joseph Powers is?" William asked after looking down the list of names and seeing Joseph's name to be missing it's check.

"No idea," stated the twins in unison, as they and Wilfred shook their heads.

"He's going to be out sick for the next couple of days, Mr. Spears, J.P came down with the flu yesterday, his dad told me to give this to you," Drew explained, and gave William the hand-written note, obviously put together by the ill recruit.

William read the note and nodded, and began to explain the day's lesson, something more hands-on than what the group had been doing recently. They had learned about now to defend themselves, and attack if necessary with their current scythes, and now, William and Grell had decided that they were all ready to put what they had learned to the test.

"Everyone is to partner up, though, sense we've got an odd number today, we'll need to have a group of three. We will begin in five minutes, until then, everyone group up," William instructed, and immediately, Wilfred and Drew got together, while the twins walked over to Josephine.

"Looks like we're the group of three," the two stated.

"Thank you both for stating the obvious," Josephine replied as she cleaned the blade to her scythe. She inspected it, causing the light to glint off the polished surface.

Five minutes later, the groups were instructed to take places on separate sides of the room. William then began to explain further what they were going to do.

"The goal of this exercise," he began. "Is to disarm and corner your partner. Mister Sutcliff will be watching one group, myself the other group, so that we may ensure that you all are doing things properly, as well as safely, we wouldn't want anyone getting hurt. Once we have arrived and signal for you to begin, you may start," William instructed, and walked over to Grell. After a short discussion, the two separated, William going over to the two boys who had paired together, and Grell going to Josephine's group. They nodded to one another that they were ready to begin, and signaled this to the groups, who quickly began.

The twins split, attempting to corner Josephine between them. She managed a way out, just as one twin swung with his scythe. The other swung at her, though the girl blocked his scythe with her own. She turned her scythe to lock the blades, and in one motion, turned her wrist and forearm, disarming the twin in front of her.

In the reflection from her glasses, the girl was able to see the other boy come up behind her. She breathed deeply, seeing Grell call Will over, concerned with the safety of the pair. Suddenly, as the twin behind her was bringing his scythe down behind her, Josephine kicked her legs up, the hard heel of her right shoe catching on the scythe and stripping the tool from its owner's hand. The scythe traveled out of quick reach of the twin. Now, Josephine knew she could easily corner the two, she spun away from the first, and came around, quick and close to the other, forcing the two to become cornered by the other's body.

The twins were looking over Josephine's shoulder, and when she turned around, she noticed that the others in the room, and even a few of the people who had been in the hall, including three other academy instructors, and even some of her old teachers, had come in to see what was going on. When she turned, she was that they all were applauding what they had just witnessed.

"Looks like we've got a natural defense artist in the group," Grell said, leaning on William's shoulder.

"Yes, it does," William nodded before shoving his subordinate off his shoulder.

Josephine backed off from the twins allowing them to retrieve their scythes, though they soon started bickering about whose scythe they were holding. William sighed at the annoying, useless fight and pushed his glasses up with his middle and ring finger from the bridge of the frames, closing his eyes as he did so.

"I wouldn't have expected that from the Josephine Grey I used to know," one voice sounded from the crowd.

Josephine looked over, and saw one of her former teachers, Mister Ren Murakami, who'd had her before many of the changes she had made to herself, she hadn't even cut her hair until after she'd exited his class. He had to have knows that Josephine was in this class, or he wouldn't have recognized her because of all the changes. She put her scythe in its place on her belt, and walked over to him.

"Mr. Murakami, it's been quite a while, hasn't it?" she stated, even her voice and eyes had changed, becoming stern and cold.

"Yes, it has. And I see that you've changed quite a bit from what I remember. Your hair is short, your posture is perfect, and you are now showing the strength that I had known you had all along," Murakami said.

Josephine nodded a bit, the two continued to speak for a few moments longer, until Murakami was needed elsewhere. The rest of the class was spent in the groups, practicing the same skills as they had been learning. At the end of the class time, everyone in the class was attempting to catch their breath. The only one who wasn't fully exhausted was Josephine, though everyone knew why at this point. She had ended up facing each of her classmates, and had shown that she excelled at hand-to-hand combat.

All of the other students left at the very end of class, still fairly pink-faced and breathing heavily. As Josephine began to leave, she was caught by William putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Ms. Grey, if you wouldn't mind, what I had told you earlier was not a suggestion, it was in fact an order. This is the only date for months that we are able to get with this couple," the elder, black-clad reaper told her as he led her out of the room and out of the building.

The two went to the diner in the center of town where Josephine worked, as they walked in, William noticed her tense slightly.

"It will be alright, Ms. Grey, I promise," he told her as they entered.

As they entered the diner, the chef looked over from the window in the wall between the main dining room and kitchen, and rushed out. Josephine saw the rage in his eyes and looked at the time, if she were working that day, as he thought she was, she would be almost half an hour late. The young recruit took half a step back.

"Grey, half an hour late, and not even in uniform! God damn it, girl, if you didn't bring them in like you do, you'd be fired right now!" the chef shouted, getting into Josephine's face to emphasize his words. The chef attempted to grab Josephine, though when she got away, the strong man slapped her across her right cheek, and went to grab the pained girl again.

"Sir, I believe it would be wise to think about who else is around you before acting out as you have," William stated, strongly holding the man's wrist.

The beefy chef looked up at the thin man that seemed to have an overpowering grip on him, and then pulled away. After some time, he spoke, "Either she's in the back room with me, or she's fired, I don't care how much business she brings in, I'm sick of having the damned girl come in late all the time!"

"You don't have to fire me," Josephine stated coldly. The two men turned towards her, surprised.

"What the hell do you mean I don't have to fire you, girl?!" the chef shouted in return.

"I quit," is all that was said in return. With that, Josephine walked back out of the door to the diner, not waiting for a response to come out of either of the stunned men's mouths.

William bowed slightly and left the diner, going back out to Josephine, who was standing out in the rain. "I thought you said that you couldn't afford to quit this job," he said, in an almost questioning way.

"Things change, Mister Spears. Things change. Now, if I remember correctly, you had plans to have me meet a couple?" Josephine told him.

"Ah, yes, we should be on our way, wouldn't want to keep them waiting," Will nodded, and the two started on their way.

After some time of walking in the rain, the pair came to a prison facility. As they walked in, William led the girl to one of the private visitation rooms. Through the one-way glass that served as a window into the room, the recruit saw a pair she had hoped she wouldn't come across again.

"Are you out of your mind, Mr. Spears?! I ran to get away from those two, and not just so that you could bring me back to them!" she shouted, though soon after, she managed to regain her composure. "My apologies, Mr. Spears."

William said nothing in return, the man simply led the young recruit inside, where a couple were seated at a metal table. As William and Josephine entered, the pair looked up. The woman had the same dark, long, wavy hair Josephine used to have before the day she ran. The man had the same cold eyes as Josephine now had behind his glasses. The couple were a pair that Josephine knew very well. The two where her parents.

"Josephine," the man said, his voice filled with a cold annoyance.

"Little Josephine," the woman stated in a board tone.

Josephine took a deep breath to steady her nerves. It had been years sense she had last seen her parents, the girl was surprised that they even recognized her, let alone actually acknowledged her being in the room. William and Josephine took the two empty seats across the table from Josephine's mother and father. For several tense moments, none of them spoke, and then, out of the blue, Josephine's father spoke out.

"Where the hell have you been all this time, not that we've cared, or anything, but where the hell did you go? You look like you're trying to pose as a man, a thin, girly man," her father asked.

"After I left, I went into the city, and honestly, I don't care what you say about what I wear, for it is what I need, and like to wear, anyways," Josephine replied.

"You had better watch what you say, girl, or you'll be in for it," the woman spat at Josephine.

The dark-clad recruit said nothing to this, she simply straightened her back more from the slightly-slumped position she had been in, keeping her eyes coldly fixed on the couple before her. Though the girl showed no fear in her features, William could easily see through the mask, he knew that the younger shinigami was willing herself to stay strong in the face of her greatest fear.

Silence overtook the room for a moment, until William finally spoke. "I must go and get a glass of water, if you'll excuse me," he stated politely. Though Josephine didn't buy it for a second, and watched nervously as the man got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. The recruit swallowed hard and turned back to the couple in front of her. She was now alone with her parents.

"Well, now that we're alone for a bit…" her father said as he rose from his seat. His wife followed suit, both smirking deviously, and looking at Josephine as if they were lions, stalking long-awaited prey.

Josephine froze in her seat for a moment, afraid, but refusing to show it. As her parents started stalking closer, the recruit stood quickly, causing her chair to fall back. The pair continued to draw closer, causing their daughter to back away, eventually cornering her against the wall.

On the other side of the door, watching everything unfold was Will, along with Grell, who had agreed to observe just how the three family members would interact together. Neither liked what they were seeing at this point. The red reaper turned to his dark-clad partner and spoke in a nervous tone.

"I don't think this is such a good idea, Will… they've already got the girl cornered… and that look in their eyes, I don't like it…" Grell stated, obviously nervous on behalf of the recruit on the other side of the glass.

The darkly dressed reaper turned to his crimson partner and sighed. "We need to see what happens, Sutcliff. It may not be a good idea, but it is necessary," William told his subordinate. Though when they turned back to the window, both reapers were shocked at what had happened in the little time they had turned away, and soon, the pair rushed, fumbling with the lock to the door, knowing that something would have to be done.

_'What have I done…?'_ William thought.

_**((A/N: Dun dun dun, cliffhanger! I'm so mean, but, I have to keep you guys here somehow!))**_


	7. Chapter 7

The Grey Truth: Chapter Seven

_Chapter Six Recap: Grell had seen what caused the scars they saw, and William had heard of what caused the scars they didn't. After seeing the skills possessed by the young recruit, the pair thought she could handle what they had planned. A confrontation with her greatest fear. A meeting, locked alone, between Josephine and her parents. Will and Grell had their backs turned from the three for a moment, not even three minutes, when they turned back to the window, they rushed to get into the room, fumbling with the lock. One thing was going through William's mind. 'What have I done…?'_

_**((A/N: Once again, this chapter is a bit stronger, mostly towards the beginning, and then it lightens up a bit. This chapter does depict physical harm being inflicted. You have been warned.))**_

Josephine was backed against the wall of the room, cornered by her father, and held there, helpless by her mother. The recruit's scythe lay at the other end of the room, having been knocked from her hand while trying desperately to defend herself. The girl struggled against the grip of her parents. All the girl could feel was the pain. She couldn't think, she couldn't see. Her glasses had been knocked from her face and skittered across the floor, nearly to the other end of the room.

"Get it open, Sutcliff!" William shouted as the two reapers attempted to enter the room and separate the three people inside.

"I'm trying, I'm trying! The lock won't budge!" Grell replied, putting nearly all his strength into trying to get the door open.

Finally, the pair were able to undo the lock and enter the room. As they attempted to separate everyone, the struggle only increased, worrying Will and Grell that Josephine was being injured more than she already was. But it was the only way to get to the girl from the way that her parents had surrounded her. Two guards from the prison also came in and assisted in getting the Grey's under control. After prying the couple off of their daughter, Will and Grell were finally able to assess the damage. And there seemed to be a lot of it.

The girl before them was battered and bloodied, the academy uniform that had been neatly pressed was now wrinkled and torn at some of the seams. The recruit was on the floor, slumped against the wall. Though the most prominent injury was to her left arm, which was bent at an angle that could only mean that one of the bones was broken.

The pair of instructors did what they could, and then brought the girl to the closest medical facility, the hospital down at the very end of the road where Josephine worked. William was the one to carry the battered girl in his arms, while Grell offered up his jacket to shield the girl from the rain, which was now coming down even more heavily.

Just as the three came into the building, it was obvious that this hospital was rarely busy, and this was a very slow time, because two nurses rushed over at the sight of the battered girl in William's arms after Grell had taken back his long red coat. Everything went by in a flash, the next thing any of the three knew, Josephine was in one of the white-painted rooms, with her left arm elevated by her side. She was sore, and couldn't see much of anything. She simply lay there, looking up at the white ceiling until she heard the door open. Walking into the room were her instructors, William and Grell, led by one of the doctors, as well as her boss from hospital dispatch.

The girl looked over, squinting, until William pulled something out of one of his pockets and slipped something over her eyes, her glasses. Now, she could see the worried faced of Grell and her boss, while William and the doctor attempted to keep a calm look about them. Though the girl knew that even William was nervous of what would be the outcome of these injuries. No one spoke for some time, allowing Josephine to take in her current state. After some time, the doctor spoke.

"Well, Miss, it seems that you were injured fairly badly. Though, the most prominent injury, as you may have noticed, is your left arm, which was broken in whatever incident occurred," the doctor told his young patient.

"Is there any good news hidden in all of this?" Josephine asked, frustrated.

"I'm afraid not," her boss stated. "I'll have to relieve you of your duties. We need to cut back on personnel at dispatch, things are just too slow to have as many people as we do working in the department."

Josephine sighed and nodded, grimly stating, "I understand, sir." At that, her boss nodded a bit, apologizing once more, and then leaving.

"You are allowed to leave any time later today, Miss. My only instructions are to come back every two weeks until your cast is removed, then to follow up with your primary care provider, as well as simply take it easy, and keep that arm elevated as much as you can," the doctor told her, and left to check up on another patient, leaving the two instructors and recruit alone.

Josephine lay back on the pillows of the bed and closed her eyes. "Well, this is just wonderful…" she sarcastically stated. "No job, I'll be out of the building as soon as they find out… I've got no place to go now. And then there's classes, what about my grades, they'll plummet if I'm unable to attend or participate…" the girl said, beginning to nervously ramble to herself.

Her two instructors could tell that all of this was coming out without any thought, but they couldn't blame her. They were the ones who put her in that room with those two horrible people. They were the ones at fault, who had hurt the young recruit.

"If you need it, our doors are always open to you, Ms. Grey," William stated, cutting off the long spur of worries that Josephine had obviously kept hidden all this time.

The girl looked up, surprised once again by her cold instructor's kindness. She had heard about William T. Spears through most of her time in primary school, and he had even come to her school when it was time to start deciding just where to go next for education. She knew that he never let emotions get in the way of his work, or even, much of the time, his general life. He was always cold, showing no emotion in his eyes, voice, or even choice of words and what he would say. But lately, the girl had seen a different side to the man, one that almost seemed to truly care, and right now, the way that the two instructors even stood next to one another, gave her the feeling that there was something more, as if the two men cared not just for her own well-being, but about one another to a certain extent. She wouldn't bring it up, of course, she was smart enough, even in this pained and battered condition, to know that it was rude to question anything like that.

Several hours later, the two men and the recruit, now dressed in dark brown pants and a white shirt, courtesy of Grell, who had kept them from when he was a recruit for when there was time off from schooling at the academy, were walking back to Josephine's apartment to retrieve her things. As the three walked into the building, none of the other men in the room paid any mind to the men With the young girl. They simply threw their usual rude questions and comments her way. William could see that the young girl was trying to keep herself together. The crowd cleared as the group made it to the stairwell and started up towards the third floor. They had only gone up a few steps when Grell spoke up.

"You put up with that every day when you come in or out?" he asked, earning a smack in the arm from William for asking something so personal.

"Actually, this was one of the better times. It's usually worse than that," Josephine replied as she led the pair down the hall on the third floor to her apartment and undid the locks on the door.

The elder reapers looked at one another, the same knowing look in both their sets of eyes, it was a good thing they were getting her out of here now, because there possibly could not have been a later. After the locks had all been undone, the three walked inside, and the two instructors coughed lightly at the still fairly prominent smell of cigarette smoke. They were about to ask about it when they got their answer from an off handed remark from Josephine.

"I apologize for the cigarette smell, the furnishings were all left behind by the previous occupant," she stated as she went over to the closet and pulled a worn suitcase from the shelf, struggling slightly from the height of the shelf and being unable to slow the case coming down with her left hand as she normally would have. The girl then began taking her clothes down off of the hangers, though obviously struggled to fold them to be able to get them into the case. Grell walked over, and began assisting the girl with the now-difficult task.

Soon, everything had been neatly organized in the case. After writing a short letter to the owner of the building on why she had left, Josephine was ready to leave. "Mr. Spears, could you take the letter? It just needs to be placed on the front desk as we leave," she asked, and William nodded, taking the letter from Josephine. The script was a simple cursive, skillfully written out, he shouldn't have been, but William was surprised with how wonderfully legible the girl's writing was.

As they left, Josephine had Grell take the case while she closed the door to the apartment. Once out of the small area, Josephine placed her coat over her shoulders, not bothering to try to get her arm out of its sling and through the sleeve, and picked up the case. After this, the three once again started down the stairs. The girl was flanked by her two instructors, preventing most of the men getting to her. William dropped the letter on the front desk as they walked by, and without a word, the three walked out of the building.

The rain was still coming down heavily, if not even more so, as the three came to William's apartment. As they entered, there was a clap of thunder, and Josephine froze in place at the sound. After a second when nothing else happened, she shook herself off a bit, calming down. William brought her back to the spare bedroom and assisted her in unpacking her things.

Once everything was in its new place, Josephine turned to William. "Thank you for allowing me to stay here, Mr. Spears," she said, her tone and choice of words still respectful and professional as always.

"I am essentially your guardian at this point, there isn't need to be so formal when we aren't around your peers or my co-workers, excluding Sutcliff. If you would rather, you may call us by our first names, when you are comfortable with it," William informed her, and Josephine nodded in reply.

"And I would ask you to call me by my first name if I do the same with the two of you," the girl said, the corner of her mouth lifting into a partial smile.

The two elder reapers nodded in agreement, though they knew that it would be odd calling the recruit 'Josephine' rather than 'Ms. Grey'. Though, the same could be said for Josephine, being informed that a less formal approach was allowed now in addressing her superiors. Though now, one thing was certain, they would all be close at this point, and Josephine finally knew for sure, that William T. Spears and Grell Sutcliff did care about her well-being. And she was glad about it, too.

Things went well for the next several months, Josephine did as she was told and kept up with appointments and all of her school work, made easier by living with William, and him and Grell knowing the limits she could reach with her condition. The first day Josephine walked into class with her arm in the sling, everyone had asked what had happened, and Josephine simply stated that she had fallen on some water-soaked steps in the rain and had gotten scratched and broken her arm when she landed. They didn't ask anything else after that, luckily. Though things changed a bit a few weeks after Josephine's cast had come off. William had found her in the bathroom, blood running down her arms. Three fresh cuts adorned each of the girl's forearms. William had said nothing, and simply bandaged the wounds.

No one knew the relationship between William and Josephine, they didn't show that anything was any different from earlier in the year, and no one asked about it. Though William still thought of the time where he had caught Josephine in the act, and he started talking with Grell on how they could help her. They had both known what it was like to be in her situation, feeling helpless and thinking the pain of those cuts would help.

William's scars had long sense faded from his time with a blade back when he was first starting at the academy. The stress of his parents wanting him to strive to be better than he already was and get to, and stay at, the top of the class had pushed him to start. It wasn't until Grell found out just after final exams that he helped William to stop. The scars were nearly invisible now, and neither could really remember exactly how Grell had found out about it, anyways.

Grell's time was much more recent, barely ten months had passed at this point sense William had found out about the harm Grell had been inflicting on himself. Grell's reason was fairly different from William's, though it was a normal cause just the same. He had simply been depressed for so long, he hadn't thought anything, or anyone, could help, and that was when he had resorted to the cutting. William had found out when Grell had to change after ink had spilled all over the front of his shirt and vest. He had cut just that morning, and the bandages were still wrapped around his arms. Will had recognized the look of the bandages immediately, having had his arms wrapped the same way years before. Most of the scars had faded at this point, only the deepest cuts had left scars that would take much longer to fade from Grell's arms.

The pair had helped one another, and now, they both knew that they needed to Help young Josephine. Before it grew too late to do anything for her. They simply needed to come up with how to help the girl.

_**((A/N: Wow, I've posted a LOT for this story lately, I'm on a roll! I might actually manage to finish this before the end of the summer if I keep this up. Anyways, I know this chapter was still fairly dark, and a bit of a roller-coaster in terms of being dark, then light, then dark, and now cliffhanger, but hey, an author needs to keep their readers thinking! Hoped you enjoyed this chapter anyways!))**_


	8. Chapter 8

The Grey Truth: Chapter Eight

"I don't know how we'll be able to help her, Will, the girl almost looks to be too far gone. Even you and I hadn't gotten that bad," Grell said as he and Will were meeting in the kitchen of William's apartment. Josephine was in her room, likely reading or sketching in a book William had gotten for her as a gift just after she had moved in with him.

"I know, you weren't that bad, though remember, we don't know how long she's been going for, you'd only been at it for a few months, who knows how long it's been for Josephine?" William reminded his crimson-haired subordinate, who nodded a bit grimly.

Both reapers sighed, once again, a feeling of defeat washed over them, as with many of the little meetings. They could never think of a way to approach Josephine to try to help her. They had tried being subtle about it for some time, but they soon found that Josephine was much smarter than to fall for it, for she always picked up on their intentions. The pair had tried talking with Josephine on how she was feeling about now living with William, and if thing were going alright otherwise, though the subject never came up.

"Well, you should be heading home, Sutcliff, I'm going to go and try to talk to Josephine," William said, and Grell nodded, getting up.

Once the long-haired reaper had left, William walked down the hall and knocked upon Josephine's bedroom door. There was no answer from inside, all William heard was a soft, pained hiss from across the hall in the bathroom. He sighed to himself, and opened the door. The girl was at the sink, blood running from her arm to the white porcelain. William shook his head a bit and walked over. The man attempted to pull the thin arm away from the blade, though he was unnoticed until it was too late. A sharp pain sliced through his hand, causing him to yell out a bit and pull away quickly. There was a cut straight through the black glove that covered his hand, and between the pieces of fabric, was a red strip. When he had reached to pull the girl's wrist away, she hadn't noticed, and had cut him instead of herself.

Grell hadn't yet left the apartment, and rushed to see what had happened when he heard the yell of his superior and a metallic clatter. The man gasped at the sight, the two people he cared about were both hurt. Josephine seemed alright, other than the fact that she had another cut in her arm, which she was now wrapping in bandages. William had taken off his glove and was now inspecting a decent wound that ran across his hand.

"William, darling!" Grell shouted in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine, Sutcliff, it was an accident. I should have given some warning that I was entering and behind Josephine and didn't. I'll be fine, I just need to wrap it," William replied, taking the bandage wrap from Josephine after she was finished with her own cut and began to wrap his hand.

"I-I didn't mean to-," Josephine started, though she was cut off by a reassurance from Will that he would be alright. After this, the girl left the room, going to her own and closing and locking the door behind her.

After things settled down, Grell left and went home. William began to clean up the bathroom when he noticed that Josephine had left a folding pocket knife on the floor near the sink, having dropped it in shock at finding that she had cut her instructor and not herself. He picked it up and cleaned off the blade. Other than a small spot of dried blood from an old cut at the tip of the blade, the knife was in very good condition. William folded the blade into the handle, upon hearing the soft metallic click, he stashed the knife in his pocket, and finished cleaning.

In his room, William took the knife from his pocket and hid it in a small box in his closet where he kept some things from his days at the academy, intending on giving the knife to Grell the next day at work for safe-keeping. The darkly dressed man sighed as he looked at what the box contained. It held his old training scythe, still in its sheathe from the last time it was used, as well as his recruit glasses, the top edge of the lenses scratched from when things had gotten out of hand during his final exam. Buried at the bottom of the box, under the recruit handbook (which Will had memorized and still remembered clearly all these years later), old report cards, and yearbook (which William set aside to look at later), was a small, black-handled knife, the blade protected by a black leather sheathe.

'_It's been so long, my old enemy…_' the man thought. Before Grell had Helped him to stop, William had referred to the knife's blade as a welcome friend. The man shook away the memories, which he now kept locked away in the back of his mind. He couldn't bear to think back on those dark days.

'_None of that matters now, Spears,_' he thought. '_There is another you should be worrying about. And that is Josephine.'_ He placed everything back into the box, leaving the yearbook out on his bedside table.

Diner that night was nearly silent. Neither reaper had anything to say to the other. The hour at the dinner table passed slowly, until both shinigami placed their plates into the sink and simply left for their rooms.

The next morning was fairly slow. The academy was giving students the day off, and William wasn't about to leave Josephine home alone. The recruit had become close to Will over the past months, though she would tend to keep her distance from his crimson-clad, sharp-toothed subordinate.

It was clouded outside as the pair walked into the dispatch office. Josephine secretly worried if there would be a storm that day. The two dark-clad reapers said nothing until they met up with Grell.

"I would like you to spend the day with Mr. Sutcliff, Ms. Grey," William stated, earning a slightly nervous look from the recruit. "I assure you, Ms. Grey, you will be fine," at this, William left, going into his office, leaving Grell and Josephine to enter the crimson reaper's office.

Josephine couldn't help but notice that much of the room was red. The only things left their original color were the walls and desk. There was a blood-red rug on the floor, red office supplies on a desk covered in paperwork, a red chair behind the desk, in front of the windows adorned with semi-transparent red drapes that cast a dim red glow over everything in the room. There was an extra space off to the side that Josephine presumed that William had set up with Grell to give her a place to spend her time, though she noticed that she would just be a few feet from the redhead's desk.

"Well, go on, then, take a seat. I've just got a few things to do," Grell urged, going to sit at his desk.

Josephine hesitantly walked over to the smaller desk that had been set up and took a seat behind it. She took out the drawing book that William had given to her and a pencil and began to draw on one of the empty pages. The girl was entirely silent as she drew.

Later that day, when Will and Grell were on break, they slipped away from Josephine for a moment, William took the girl's knife from his pocket. Grell hadn't known that Will had picked up the knife, and it showed in his eyes that he feared the worst.

"Will, please, don't tell me that you're at it again," the redhead begged.

"I'm not, I would never go back there. It's Josephine's," the black-haired man replied. "I need you to hold onto it, she wouldn't suspect you to have it."

Grell took the knife from his superior and placed it into the pocket of his vest. They simply nodded worriedly to one another. This wasn't a good idea, they had tried it with one another when attempting to get one or the other to stop, William had gotten more depressed, while Grell got irritable and even violent from the withdrawal. But both knew it was for the better of the young recruit.

Several days later was when Josephine noticed that something was missing. The girl had had a rough time in class that day, most of the trouble coming from the twins, Fredric and Gregory. She was searching around her room, trying to find her knife to relive the stress, but couldn't find it. The blade wasn't in the bag attached to her belt, or any of her recruit uniforms, or in her worn overcoat, or even in any of the desk drawers. Aggravated, Josephine went out to William, who at this point she had grown close enough to, to call the man by his first name.

"William, have you seen my collapsing knife?" the recruit asked. William could hear that Josephine was, at this point, very irritated by not being able to find the knife.

"No, I haven't. Did you check where you had it last?" he questioned, though his tone was obviously not genuine.

"I know you're hiding it, now tell me where. You don't understand what I'm going through, I need that knife," Josephine said, her tone dripping with frustration.

The man sighed and turned the stove to a low temperature, as to make sure not to burn their dinner. "I know very well what you are going through, Josephine," he stated calmly, comfortably using the recruit's first name.

"Don't say things that aren't true," Josephine replied, not believing that such a strong, steady man as William would ever be able to understand the turmoil she was going through.

"You know me better than that, Josephine. I went through a stage where I took the blade to my own arms," William said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal very faint, though numerous scars that Josephine could barely see from her distance.

"I never thought that you would do it, William…"

"Many things pushed me. My parents wanting me to be better, I had no friends while in school, either, and a number of other things that I try each day not to think about. And I wouldn't bother looking in my room or study, your knife isn't even in the apartment."

Josephine groaned, and went back into her room, not knowing what to do. She was no good with words much of the time, William had known that from when she had first moved in. That was one of the many things that the two had in common. They could always tell what the other was thinking from the subtle looks in their eyes, rather than what they were saying or how they were saying it.

The two went off to bed that night, but barely got any sleep. Josephine was kept up by her frustration and rapid thoughts which made it impossible for her to relax. William was kept up thinking that, though it was for Josephine's own good, giving the girl's knife to Grell hadn't been the best action to take.

A few days passed, and Will was starting to nearly regret giving Josephine's knife to Grell. The girl was more on-edge than ever, and at the slightest thing that upset her she would snap. She was losing it, bit by bit, each day, growing farther away from the two who had helped her. That Saturday, a day off from study at the academy, when Josephine had locked herself in her bedroom, William and Grell were in the kitchen, having taken the day off to think of something else they could try. Once again, they sat across from one another at the dark-stained, oaken table, both unsure of what to do. They were both thinking in silence until Will spoke up.

"I believe it would be a good idea for you to talk with her, sense your experience was so similar, and your time so much more recent than mine," the black-haired man said, catching the redhead's attention.

Grell raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Are you sure about that, Will?" he asked.

"I'm certain. And you should do it today, while we've the time and opportunity. If this doesn't help, we'd have to resort to a shrink, or at the least a support group to help her stop, and I'd prefer we keep things like that out of this if we can."

"Well, if you're sure, Will. I'll go talk to her now, she can spend the night at my apartment."

At this, the two nodded in agreement. If something didn't start to help the girl soon, Josephine would end up a shinigami whose soul would be reaped by her colleagues.

_**((A/N: Just a shout-out/thanks to irishjenny and Sabri Quet for helping me with this chapter, as well as everyone who has been commenting, you guys rock!))**_


	9. Chapter 9

The Grey Truth: Chapter Nine

A couple of hours after making the decision that Josephine would spend the night with Grell, the two had arrived at the red-clad man's apartment. Upon entering, Josephine was surprised to see that, at least the living room, wasn't a cluttered mess as she had thought it would have been. Grell had led her to a red-furnished guestroom, which was very similar to the room she had at William's apartment, the only difference was that everything that was black in the room at Will's apartment was red, and the white of the pillows and sheets beneath the covers was instead black.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Grell questioned after he was sure Josephine was settled.

The girl didn't know what to say. She barely knew herself, not anymore, at least. She didn't know much of her likes or dislikes, her hobbies, nothing. For all she knew, her mind could be the exact opposite of what it had been years ago. After several moments of silence, Grell spoke up.

"I was originally planning to go do some shopping in the living world if you would like to come with. Shops here are all the same, dull and boring," the redhead suggested.

"In the living world? But, according to the Recruit Shinigami Handbook, section seven, page five, paragraph two, recruits are restricted from going into the living world," Josephine said.

"You are so much like my darling William, always following the rules, but the section also states that if a recruit is accompanied by a fully-graduated shinigami, access to the living world is permitted," Grell stated, and Josephine knew she had been beaten with her own card.

About half an hour later, the pair were in the living world, in London. Josephine had changed out of her recruit uniform into something of her own design. The girl was now wearing a white blouse with a rounded collar, a black vest, black pants, black ankle boots, and a black leather cap, a dark green blazer completing the outfit. Grell was in his usual white shirt, black vest and pants, and his red coat slung off his shoulders.

The pair ventured into several of the stores, and after several hours, finding nothing of interest, except for a few dresses that Grell had thought would look wonderful on Josephine, as well as a few for himself (which at purchase, he claimed they were for his wife), the two went back to Grell's apartment, both going into the bedrooms.

After dinner that night, Josephine was sketching in the guestroom when Grell came in. She didn't even look up from her drawing or say anything. The red reaper drew closer, his high-heeled ankle boots clicking with each step. The man leaned against the wall by the desk, catching the girl's attention, causing her to look up from her drawing.

"Will told me to talk to you about your, uh…," Grell began, though he couldn't quite think of how to word the end of his statement.

"I figured," Josephine replied.

"So, you know that both of us did at some point, and mostly why. Could you tell me why you've taken to the blade?" the man asked.

"A number of things have driven me. Stress being the main factor. And then there's the fact I've got no friends to speak of, as well as everyday pressure from my peers, who act nothing like up-and-coming shinigami," the girl answered.

Grell nodded a bit, knowing that this was more information than he and William had gotten in the past. When he looked back at the girl, the redhead knew right away that she was doing her best not to fall asleep. Years of working with Will had allowed Grell to learn to read the most subtle hints of emotion in another's eyes.

"Get some rest, Josephine. We'll have some breakfast in the morning, then I'll take you back to Will's," he said, and left the room with a quiet 'good-night'.

Although her injuries from her parent's attack months ago had healed, and she now knew they couldn't get to her, Josephine still had nightmares. William knew about them, of course, he was the one who would comfort Josephine when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night. But Grell, he didn't know about them. The redhead didn't know that the cold girl would often wake up with tears streaking her pale face. He didn't know that more often than not, Josephine would actually be afraid to go to bed because of her dreams, no matter how tired she was.

Sure enough, later that night, the peaceful quiet was shattered by a yell. Grell rushed into the room in his two-piece red pajamas and red robe. Through the darkness of the room, the red-haired reaper could see the girl's bright eyes, widened in fear. He walked in and turned on the lamp next to the bed.

"Are you alright, Josephine?" the man asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, fine, I'm perfectly, fine…," Josephine said, though the obvious look in the girl's eyes told the red-haired man another story.

The pair said nothing as time passed. Soon, Josephine had fallen back to sleep. Grell lay the girl down and pulled the covers over her slim frame, and left the room after turning the lamp off.

The next morning, after a breakfast of warm oatmeal and strawberries, Grell brought Josephine back to William's apartment. Once Josephine had gone back into her room, Grell told William what he had found the night before. Several moments passed before William said anything.

"Well, that explains quite a bit. I say we wait a few days and see how she does, and they try to go from there," William suggested, and his subordinate nodded in agreement.

The recruit did well for nearly a week, though when she accompanied Will and Grell on a reaping, she snuck away. She had found her knife by mistake while she was spending the night at Grell's apartment, though hadn't thought of adding any more cuts because things had been going well. Though something that day sent her over, and she couldn't help herself.

The dark-haired girl ducked into an alley-way, intending on only adding one cut to her left arm. She got to her knees and rolled up the sleeve of her jacket and shirt, taking off her glove, hidden by the space's dark shadows, and pulled out her knife. She extended the blade, hearing it lock with a faint metallic click. She took a breath to steady herself, worried more than ever that she could be caught, it had happened enough.

'_It's only one cut, just one…'_ she thought, trying to rationalize all of this with herself. With one final breath, she put the cold blade to her wrist, softly gasping at the feeling of the cool metal touching her skin.

Just as she was breaking the skin, seconds before the pain really started to register in her mind, a black cat cam sprinting by, chased by a large brown dog, startling her, and causing Josephine to cut too deep. The second she pulled the knife away, she realized that there was far more blood than usual, and she was feeling dizzy. Josephine tried to get up, and fell to the ground. Everything in her line of sight went blurry, and then black.

The next thing Josephine knew, she was lying under the covers of a four-poster bed, staring at the ceiling. When she looked to her left, she saw that her arm was above the covers, and from half-way between her elbow and wrist, all the way down to her where her fingers joined the rest of her hand, and around the base of her thumb, was wrapped in bandages. Or, at least that was what she believed she was seeing. Everything around her was blurry, indicating that she didn't have her glasses on.

The girl felt around with her right hand to her left, finding nothing but her bandaged arm, she tried her right, finally finding her glasses, she put them on, and was able to confirm what she had thought she was seeing. Moments later, after trying to figure out just where she was, a man came into the room. He was tall, with black hair, and pale skin, though the most striking thing she noticed were his eyes, which were red. Her mind was still fuzzy as she tried to recall what had happened, and she certainly couldn't put together the obvious.

"It seems you've finally woken up," the man stated as he came closer. "Though you still seem a bit dazed. I'm not surprised, judging by the amount of blood you seemed to have lost, I was surprised that you were still alive," he told her as he began to take the bandages off her arm.

As the bandages came undone, Josephine was finally able to see the damage she had done. This cut was much worse than many of the others. It was jagged, and obviously much deeper than she had intended. In her surprise at the cat and dog running by, her knife had slipped, not just cutting deeply into her wrist, but she had turned it, causing the cut to stretch from the left side of her left wrist, all the way across her wrist, and up through part of her palm. When she had fallen, she had tried to catch herself, scraping her hand against the jagged edge of one of the wooden creates in the alley, causing more cuts to litter her palm. The injuries had been well-cleaned and any splinters or small pieces of rock from the ground had been taken out, the man had obviously known what he was doing.

"Now, may I get your name?" the man asked.

"Only if I get yours first," Josephine replied.

"Sebastian Michaelis," the man replied.

"Josephine Grey," Josephine told him.

Sebastian nodded, and after checking over the wounds, carefully wrapped clean bandages over the wounds. After making sure that Josephine was comfortable, he left the room. After several moments, what had happened began to come back to Josephine's memory. She was in the alley, when a cat and a dog ran by, scaring her, and she had cut too deep.

'_I need to stop… I could have died there…'_ she thought, though she shook the thought from her mind. She had tried stopping several times, but she couldn't go more than a couple of weeks. If she went more than two weeks, she would crack, and once she ended up hurting more than simply herself, the time when she had hurt Will. That moment would likely be forever imprinted upon her mind.

Later on, Josephine heard three men talking outside the door to the room, when they walked in, Josephine was glad to see that two of the men were William and Grell. Josephine could see the look of mixed emotion in Will's eyes. A combination of relief, annoyance, anger, and slightest hint of subsiding fear. He walked over, and Josephine saw him pick something up from the table to her right, her knife, returned to its closed position.

"It seems that we'll have to get some sort of professional help involved in this, Sutcliff," he stated, fairly coldly, turning to Grell.

Grell nodded, knowing that his superior was right. Josephine was beyond their ability to help. The pair sighed, William reluctantly thanked Sebastian, whom Josephine had now figured out was a demon from how he and Will interacted. After Josephine got her shirt and jacket back on, along with her shoes and grabbed her hat, the three walked out, going back to their own world.

Later that night, Josephine was in her room, resting, while Will and Grell were in the kitchen, thinking of what to do next. They had discussed putting Josephine in an institution where she would be able to get help and be monitored, though they quickly dismissed it, thinking that it was going too far. They had come to either sending her to a shrink or a support group. William was against shrinks, knowing that they didn't always know what you were going through, because more often than not, they hadn't experienced it.

"Looks like a support group would be the best thing for her, Will. Hopefully we can get her to go," Grell concluded, and William nodded in agreement.

"If we have to push her into the room and keep our backs against the door to keep her in, we will, it's the only thing that will help her at this point," Will nodded, knowing that this would be the best thing for Josephine.

Several days later, after Josephine had taken a day off from classes to further recover, William brought her to a support group meeting for those who also cut. As expected, William had to force Josephine to go, and had to stay by the door for a good five minutes until she reluctantly accepted that she would have to stay.

"Welcome, we were just about to start with introductions, please, take a seat," a brown-haired man said.

Josephine took a seat between a tall, slim, blonde man, wearing a similar suit to Will's, though he wore a brown version, instead of black, and a ginger-haired man who seemed to have just gotten out of the academy no more than three years before, considering his possible age. She looked around the room as the others introduced themselves. They were mainly men, with about two or three other females other than herself. Most of the others were a fair bit older than her, anywhere from the man to her left, who was a mere three years older than her, to others who were around ten years older, or even more. Soon, the introductions came to her. Josephine stumbled a bit, thinking of what to say. She cleared her throat after a moment and began.

"My name is Josephine Grey, I am aged 16 years, a current student at the Shinigami Academy, and I have been resorting to the blade for the past four years," Josephine said, earning a small greeting from most of the group of ten, while others simply stared. They obviously hadn't expected someone so young and seemingly steady to have resorted to the blade.

The meeting lasted two hours, and consisted mostly of everyone getting to know a piece of another's story. At the end, they were each given a journal in their choice of a color, most chose a black version of the leather-bound book, while a few chose brown, one chose a dark blue, and Josephine chose a dark green book. Each came with a key, to keep the secrets contained just that, secret.

The months passed by in a flash, and Josephine was starting to hurt herself less with each passing week. She seemed happier, and had even managed to make friends with three of the boys in her class, Joseph Powers, Drew Summers, and Wilfred "Will" Anderson. William and Grell knew that they had done the right thing, though Josephine would still have days where she would relapse, they were able to pull her out of it, and the scars were fading.

Soon, the students were being paired up for their final exams. Josephine and Joseph were put together because of their close grade averages, Joseph having a B average, nearing an A, and Josephine having an A average. Their task was to observe a single printer by the name of Terrance Short. While Joseph tried to find Terrance, Josephine read certain parts of his file aloud, hoping it would help.

"Terrance is 20 years of age, just able to get by financially," Josephine said, and continued reading until Joseph stopped her, finding their target.

"We have one month, though this seems fairly certain, he's sick, see?" he said, pointing to the health status on the papers.

Josephine nodded. "Yes, he is, and that is what kills him, one month from now, on his way to work, five o'clock A.M, November the sixth," Josephine read.

The pair observed Terrance for the month, both growing stronger in their conclusion that he would be set to die on the correct date. On November sixth, the two waited for Terrance to pass the alley where they were hiding, five minutes before five o'clock, Terrance fell.

"It's time," Joseph said, Josephine nodded, knowing that Joseph was much better with time than she was.

A small crowd had gathered around Terrance, all of them concerned. Josephine pushed through them, taking out her scythe. She knelt to the ground on one knee, and rose her scythe above her head.

"Just what are you doing?!" a man shouted, though Josephine ignored him. The girl plunged her scythe into Terrance's abdomen, releasing his cinematic record. She jumped out of sight before anyone in the crowd could realize what was going on.

Though, things soon got out of hand. Joseph stepped in, though he didn't notice Josephine falling off the roof they were on until it was too late to catch her. He managed to get away, and help her back up, though, when checking her over, he noticed that the girl's left arm was once again broken.

"That looks serious, Josephine, are you sure you can continue?" he asked, fully concerned about his partner.

"I'll be fine, Joseph," Josephine said. "It isn't the first time. Let's just focus on getting our grade, then worry about my arm. I don't wield a scythe with my left hand, anyways."

Joseph nodded. "Shall we finish him off?"

"Certainly."

With that, Josephine stood up and to Joseph's side, they overlapped the blades of their scythes, and within a moment, a blue ball of light and power surged at the tips, and the two brought their scythes forward, throwing the ball of energy towards the rouge record. The final pieces of the soul were collected by Josephine.

"Done," she stated simply, and Joseph nodded in agreement.

_** ((A/N: Hey guys! The next chapter is the last one to this story, so I hope you've all enjoyed it! Also, I'd like to credit irishjenny for the idea of Josephine going to Grell's, as well as the support group. Nine chapters down, one to go!))**_


	10. Chapter 10

The Grey Truth: Chapter Ten

Before going back to William and Grell to pass in their completed papers, Joseph and Josephine stopped at the hospital to get Josephine's arm checked. It was, in fact, broken once again, and once again, it was put into a cast and sling. After receiving instructions on what to do until it healed, the two left, going to pass in their papers.

When the pair walked in, William and Grell stood at the sight of Josephine once again having her arm in a sling. Before they could ask what happened, Joseph explained that she had fallen and broken her arm.

"Well, it seems you two have passed with flying colors. I believe it's time that you go and get yourselves some proper spectacles," William said, and Grell nodded in agreement.

Joseph smiled, and left the room, leaving Josephine for a moment while he tried to remember which way they were supposed to go. William smiled a bit at Josephine, who smiled back a bit in return. This was the most joy the girl had felt in her life, knowing that things were going to be very different from now on. She met up with Joseph, and the two went to the next level up in the building to get their new glasses.

Joseph's were simple, black with thin temples, and small skulls where the temple met the rest of the frame. Josephine kept her usual straight face as she received her new glasses.

'_Only a true shinigami is allowed the privilege to wear glasses crafted by the master. Only one who understands and has bared the weight and pain of a life earn true reaper glasses,_' she thought, putting on her new spectacles. The dark green frames caused her eyes to seem much brighter, and the near-rectangular shape seemed to fit the angular structure of the girl's face exactly. Josephine Grey had reached her goal, to become a full-fledged shinigami.

That evening, there would be a sort of ball for the students and staff of the academy to celebrate a new group of reapers coming out of training. Josephine now saw why Grell had gotten her those dresses months ago. As she was getting ready, there was a knock at the door to her bedroom. She quickly finished snuggly tying the black belt that went around her waist and answered.

"Sutcliff and I are nearly about to leave," William told her.

Josephine nodded, slipping into black high-heeled shoes and grabbing one glove from a pair of long black gloves. Along with the dark green dress that matched her glasses, Josephine wore a black choker with a dark green heart in the middle, dark green, dangling earrings, and a black headband, with a dark green accent piece attached, and her dark brown hair was down and curled so that it fell loosely above her shoulders. Little did Will know that Josephine had managed to put her knife into the small black clutch purse she carried with her.

Later that night, Josephine slipped out to the balcony, not knowing that she was followed by William and Grell. She took the knife out of her purse and opened the blade with the familiar faint, metallic click.

"What is she-," Grell began, though he was silenced by his superior.

"Just watch, I don't think she's going to," Will whispered.

Josephine took a breath, and started reciting something that she had repeatedly written in her journal for weeks, nearly singing it to herself, though her voice was just loud enough for her instructors to hear. "I don't want to be the one, the battles always choose. 'Cause inside, I realize, that I'm the one confused. I don't know what's worth fighting for, or why I have to scream, but now I have some clarity, to show them what I mean, I don't know how I got this way, but I know I'll be alright, so I'm breaking the habit, tonight," Josephine recited, and at the end, she pitched the closed knife off the balcony.

William walked over to Josephine, and placed a black-gloves hand on her shoulder, Grell stood behind his superior, both smiling warmly at their new subordinate.

"Welcome to the Shinigami Dispatch Association, Miss Grey," William said, though the three laughed at the formality he took in saying it, knowing that it was all in good fun.

"Welcome to the ride of your life," Grell said, earning a smile from Josephine.

William and Grell went back inside, leaving Josephine alone on the balcony once more. Moments later, Josephine heard the sound of two sets of feet walking in step with one another coming towards her. When the steps halted at her right, she turned to see the twins, Greg and Fred, standing there, with their hand held behind their backs, seemingly nervous.

"Josephine, er, about what we had said, about you being a creepy loner and all…," Greg began, nervousness hinting in his voice.

"We just wanted to tell you that, well…," Fred continued, in the same nervous manner.

"We're sorry," the two finished in unison.

Josephine smiled a bit and nodded. "Looking back, I can see why you had said that. And, well, I don't blame you for it. The past is the past, so let's just move on from it, alright?" she said, and the twins nodded, smiling a bit. The girl remained outside a while longer before heading in and joining the others.

All of the former recruits were enjoying themselves, dancing, joking, or doing the same as Josephine, and simply standing off to the side. The hours ticked by, and soon, the final song was about to begin.

Josephine would have been content with simply staying off to the side and watching the others, though, she was pulled in by one of the other members of dispatch, a fairly tall, mostly-blonde man sporting half a head of cornrows, which were dyed brown.

"Everyone in dispatch has to do it, only exception is that guy over there," he said, motioning to one of the new subordinates who had broken his leg during the final exam, though still managed to push though and complete it.

Josephine was put into the front row next to Will, who seemed to be the one leading this.

"Now then, everyone, let's go!" William prompted, and the music began.

All of the experienced dispatch employees fell into step perfectly, while many of the new subordinates became confused and fell out of step. Though, a few of the former recruits, including Josephine, managed to keep up with their superiors.

The night drew to a close with everyone laughing and smiling. There was a two week break between now and when the new employees would start in their chosen position and division. Josephine was staying in the main division in London, where Grell and Will were stationed, while her classmates all went to more newbie-friendly divisions.

This would mark the beginning of a new chapter for Josephine. Though her past would forever remain a grey truth, her future looked like it would be anything but.

_**((A/N: That's the end of this one! Story's over for now, you guys, but I will be back with two more stories featuring Josephine Grey as the main character. I hope you all enjoyed this one, though! I did reference a couple of songs, the first being "Breaking the Habit" by Linkin Park, and the second being "Shinigami Haken Kyoukai no Theme" from Kuroshitsuji Musical 2: The most Beautiful Death in the World, I do not own them! I just want to thank you guys for the comments and views, and make sure to watch out for the next story of the trilogy, "A Pained Heart and Determined Mind"!))**_


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